Bill Cosby Sentenced to Three to 10 Years in State Prison

Today, Judge Steven O’Neill sentenced Cosby to three to 10 years in state prison. In April, Cosby was convicted of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. He was expected to be taken into custody today. Via the Associated Press:

Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of five to 10 years in prison. The defense asked for house arrest. The 81-year-old comedian did not make a statement in court. Cosby sat back in his chair, his head on the headrest, as the sentence was read.

Earlier today, the judge also ruled that Cosby should be classified as a “sexually violent predator,” a designation that means he will be required to receive “lifetime mandatory sex offender counseling.” The classification lasts forever; any community he lives in after he serves his prison sentence will have to be notified that a sex offender lives in the area.

It is an astonishing conclusion to Cosby’s story, or at least this part of Cosby’s story. (In all, some 60 women accused Cosby of sexual misconduct.) Cosby reigned atop the pop culture world for decades as a comedian, actor, sitcom star, media mogul, and pitchman for a wide variety of products from Coca-Cola to Jell-O. And a huge part of his image was that he was a wholesome entertainer the whole family could enjoy together. Now he is a lifetime “sexually violent predator.”

And to think most of this started after Hannibal Buress told a joke on stage about Bill Cosby assaulting women. (Numerous accusations existed prior to Buress’ standup routine about Cosby — that’s why he was talking about them — but when his joke went viral, it brought renewed attention to Cosby’s various cases.) I’m very interested to hear what Buress has to say about all of this. His next standup special should be pretty interesting.